


Family

by PeriPeriwinkle



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Feels, M/M, Newborn horse, Post-Tresspasser, Qunari baby Felix, So Married
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-29
Updated: 2016-03-29
Packaged: 2018-05-29 22:55:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6397264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeriPeriwinkle/pseuds/PeriPeriwinkle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dorian returns home to his and Bull's villa, right after Bull's mare has given birth to a healthy foul, and finds that his whole family is waiting for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Family

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Koutou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Koutou/gifts).



> HAPPY (VERY BELATED) BIRTHDAY, [KOUTOU](http://sometrashland.tumblr.com/)!!!! you're such a sweetie and I'm so glad to be your friend!!! I hope this doesn't kill you with the feels too much. Just a lil'. ❤ ❤ ❤

When Dorian arrived at their Villa, he didn’t expect the place to be bursting into so much life as it was.

All the main Chargers were in, apparently; Skinner was sitting by the porch, biting her nails, and Dalish was running towards the stable with a bin filled with hot water. Ahead of her, Rocky had a pile of clean cloths, and running the opposite direction was Grim, with a basket full of blood-dirty cloths.

Dorian smiled. It was nice to see their home like this, brimming with life, despite how frantic and worried everyone looked. Truthfully, he was a bit nervous himself, but he knew it wasn’t anything that Stitches couldn’t handle. He dismounted from Balius just as the stable hand approached him, and he placed a sovereign and the horse’s reins on the elf’s hand.

“Good afternoon, serah Pavus,” Lucah said, smiling brightly as he pocketed the coin. “Your husband is in with his mare since noon, and he’s asked about you five times so far.”

“Has he, now?” Dorian grinned, the corner of his eyes crinkling as he fixed his braids over his shoulder. “How’s the little one? Is it born yet?”

“Yes it is! And it’s as healthy as a horse, serah,” he announced, making Dorian roll his eyes with a huff, although he couldn’t keep the grin off his face.

“Bull has been rubbing off on you, hasn’t he?” He asked, amused, unloading the groceries he’d brought from the next town over from Balius’ flank. Lucah shrugged, smiling.

“Only a bit, serah.”

Dorian walked to Skinner, and quickly she perked up when she saw him, rising to her feet to get the bags from his hands. The front door opened, Krem appearing behind it, and he took Dorian’s second bag from him. “Thanks for the food, Altus. Go see the chief, he’s been jittery as shit waiting for you to arrive,” Krem said, nodding towards the stables, and Dorian thanked them for their help as he turned, hurrying up to find Bull.

When he pushed open the door, the the scene inside was positively _adorable_.

Bull’s mare, Nadine, easily the biggest horse Dorian had ever seen, was lying on the floor and licking her foal’s head, which was sitting on Bull’s lap, chest pointing to the floor as it made tiny noises. Stitches was next to him, rubbing at the foal’s body and cleaning off the blood, while Rocky wiped the floor with a mop. Little Felix was next to Bull , an awed look in his eyes, and behind them Lucah led Balius slowly towards the group, the horse carefully sniffing the foul and slowly realizing that it was, too, his.

Dorian walked in, and Felix looked up once he was right behind the group, pulling on the bottom of his shirt. “Papa, papa, look!” He exclaimed happily, looking back down at the foul. “It’s so _tiny_!”

“It rather is, isn’t it,” Dorian agreed, kneeling next to Bull, who turned to him and placed a gentle peck on his lips. “Hello, amatus. I see you and Stitches did a splendid job, as always.”

“Heck yeah we did,” Bull said, rubbing Nadine’s head, and she quickly recognized the affection by nipping on his ear before going back to nudging her little one. “D’aww, look how happy she is. Feels good to be ten pounds heavier, doesn’t it, sweetie?”

“ _Tamaaa_ , the little horse doesn’t weigh _that_ much!” Felix retorted, poking him in the head. He pouted, then leaned over, looking down at the foal. “Is it? It’s not, is it?”

“Alright, you mother hens, give the parents some space and let the healer do his work, come now,” Stitches said, leaning back to wipe Nadine’s behind, and Bull set the newborn on the floor, getting up slowly with the help of Dorian and Felix. “Fun time is over here, go play outside. Rocky, check to see if Grim’s on his way back, please.”

The three of them walked out, Dorian taking Felix up on his lap and balancing him on his arms and hip, walking towards the house. Along the way, Bull chatted with Felix, asking him how he liked being a part of the new baby horse’s birth, and with wide eyes and broad gestures, Felix detailed how cool it was, and all the little things he was impressed and amazed with (and all the parts he found disgusting, too). Once inside their house they headed straight to the bath chambers, where their tub was already filled to the brim with hot water, the tiles and windows foggy and damp with condensation.

“Thank Koslun,” Bull breathed out, quickly ridding of his blood-soaked boots and pants as Felix whooped and ran from Dorian’s arms, chucking his clothes on the way and quickly jumping onto the tub.

“Not _Koslun_ , tama! I bet it was uncle Krem and Dalish!” He said, frowning his little face, right before diving under water, making Bull laugh out loud.

“Mind if I sit this one out, Amatus?” Dorian asked, giggling as Felix climbed out of the tub again, with all that restless energy four-years-old had, getting water everywhere as he clung to Bull’s wrist and forearm and tried pulling him in with him, much faster than Bull’s knee was willing to go. Once Bull sat down near the edge and Felix was already reaching out for one of his wooden toy boats that Thom had carved for him, Bull leaned back on the tub’s rim, smiling at Dorian. In turn, Dorian kneeled on the floor behind his husband, pulling Bull’s head down onto his lap and massaging his horn and scalp, making him sigh.

“Wouldn’t blame you,” Bull said, looking down with his one eye as Dorian gently removed his eyepatch. The man couldn’t decide if he was eyeing Felix, who was blowing at the boat’s sails and muttering orders to imaginary sailors and sea captains, or to the dried blood that clung to Bull’s skin, already murking the water’s pristine clear surface. Probably both. “Maybe when the kiddo’s not here, then? I can have the Chargers babysit,” He whispered, low enough that Felix didn’t catch it, and Dorian giggled.

“Oh, aren’t you a delight,” He said, rubbing the edge of the scars on Bull’s face, and Bull sighed again, closing his eye and relaxing. Seeing Bull like that, so trusting, so _happy_ , made lava-hot warmth flood inside Dorian’s chest, making him bite his lip at the sight of his amatus, so exhausted and blissed out, enjoying his kadan’s gentle touch, and their son playing in the water, happy and amused, and just that little bit wiser for having experienced the birth of such a small and fragile creature. In the other room, various voices and noises could be heard; pans clanking, plates being set out, the smell of food wafting through the air. The Chargers were arranging dinner, having already left the foul to both his parents. Laughter and song soon ran through the house’s hallways, mingling with Felix’s voice and Bull’s content humming, and it was like an arrow striking Dorian straight in the chest, how hard it all suddenly hit him. How quick and intense it all felt.

“Copper for your thoughts?” Bull murmured, nudging Dorian’s side with one of his horns, and Dorian looked down, jumping a little. He hadn’t noticed how lost in his little world he’d been, how flushed his cheeks felt, how his eyes burned. His mouth fell open with unspoken words that he didn’t know how to convey, and he pulled his hands back, touching his lips to the back of his knuckles. “...Kadan?” Bull asked, worried, lifting himself from the tub and turning to Dorian, just as the tears began to spill and run down his cheek. “Kadan, what’s wrong?”

“I...” Dorian began, covering his mouth with one hand, the other clutching to the front of his robes. How do you say these things, he thought, how to translate this feeling, so intense it feels like you’re floating and drowning, like you’re being blinded by light, burnt alive and covered in silk sheets, all at the same time? Bull cupped Dorian’s face in his massive hands, leaning closer and touching foreheads with him. “Amatus...” Dorian whispered, lowering his hands and holding on to the back of Bull’s neck instead, pulling him closer.

“Papa!” Felix shouted from behind them, running and nearly slipping on the wet tiles, then hugging Dorian from the side, immediately soaking his robes, but Dorian could hardly care. “Papa, papa, don’t cry! Please, don’t cry!”

“Oh, dearest...” He whispered, running his fingers through the damp white curls on the boy’s head, fixing them around his nubby horns. “I’m alright, don’t fret. I’m just... _happy_.”

“Why’re you crying if you’re happy, papa?” Felix asked, eyes wide and pleading, but Dorian just smiled harder, his cheeks aching, fresher tears blooming from his eyes.

“I just... _love you_. I love all of you, so much. _My family_.” He looked back up at Bull, who now had his brows furrowed up, lips pressed tightly together. The hand still on Bull’s nape slid up, cradling behind Bull’s ear, soothing him. “I know I tell you this all the time, amatus, but I do, I truly do. I love you so much. I have never in my wildest dreams thought that this, _us_ , would be possible, because it was never the plan for me to have such a big, loving family. Such a wonderful group of people I’m proud to call friends. And yet, here we are, and I’m... I’m so, so happy. I’m so grateful.”

“Kadan,” Bull whispered again, his voice wavering, and it just made Dorian’s heart throb all over again. He pressed closer, pulled him tighter, and Bull shook his head a little, their foreheads still touching, thumbs rubbing Dorian’s fresh tears away. “ _Kadan_ ,” he said again, then leaned in and kissed him, deeply, desperately.

“Ewww! _No_ , no mouth kissing, that’s icky!” Felix shrieked, batting at Bull and Dorian’s arms, and both men laughed, crying, but pulled apart anyway.

“My dearest Felix,” Dorian said, shaking his head as he looked at the boy. “You just watched the birth of a small horse, and you still think that your parents kissing is _icky_?”

“ _Well!_ ” Felix poofed up, filling his tiny cheeks with air and raising his shoulders over his ears. “Well! That’s _different_!”

“Thank the Maker for that,” Dorian whispered, and Bull barked out another laugh, pulling Dorian closer into another kiss, despite his son’s tiny sounds of disgust.

 _This_... this was Dorian’s life now, and he wouldn’t change it for the world.

 


End file.
